2019 In the News

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Last month two nuclear-armed countries, India and Pakistan, came to the brink of war. Their border skirmish was a scary message from the future. If controls on nuclear weapons continue to weaken, more countries will probably develop those weapons."

Political economist Mark Blyth joined RTE to discuss Brexit and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

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Faculty Fellow David Kertzer joined PRI's The World to discuss the recent announcement made by Pope Francis that the Vatican will unseal the records of Pope Pius XII. "The question is, how he might have tried to accommodate to Nazi rule. So the criticism against him wasn't that he was pro-Nazi, which he certainly was not."

Ashutosh Varshney comments on the tensions between India and Pakistan, and the implications it might have on India's upcoming general election. "Hindu nationalists have always been tougher on national security than the Congress."

Assistant professor Robert Blair in Inside Higher Ed, "Studying democratic erosion abroad increases optimism about those prospects, instilling confidence in the strength and longevity of American democratic norms and institutions."

Faculty Fellow David Kertzer in The Atlantic, "The decision follows more than half a century of pressure. Pius XII—a hero of Catholic conservatives... while denounced by his detractors for failing to condemn the Nazis' genocidal campaign against Europe's Jews—might well be the most controversial pope in Church history."

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar joined WPRI's Dan Yorke State of Mind to discuss President Trump's summit in Hanoi with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Watson Faculty Fellow David Kertzer comments on Pope Francis' decision that the Vatican will unseal the records of Pope Pius XII. "For much of the war, the Pope was hoping to play the role of unbiased mediator between the two sides, and that's part of the rationale for not taking a stand against the Nazis."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the new probe into President Trump. "This could very well be the kind of foundation you'd have to lay in order to begin serious impeachment proceedings."

Ashutosh Varshney comments on the current conflict between India and Pakistan, saying "If Pakistan goes for a military retaliation, which hurts India significantly, that might just gift an election victory to Modi, who looked quite vulnerable only a few weeks ago."

Professor Ashutosh Varshney in The Indian Express, "India is perhaps headed towards its first national security election ever. Security will compete with unemployment and farm distress as a critical election issue, and depending on what happens to Indo-Pak tensions, it might even eclipse the significance of economics."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "To withdraw from Afghanistan would be to acknowledge the limits of American power. Some consider that unthinkable — an intolerable loss of face and a dangerous admission of impotence."

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar joined WPRI's Dan Yorke State of Mind to discuss the national emergency declaration the Mueller investigation.

Jeff Colgan in the Global Policy Journal, "Climate politics are changing. Beyond 'politics as usual,' climate politics are becoming existential: climate-forcing and climate-vulnerable interests are both fighting for the survival of their way of life."

Political economist Mark Blyth comments on the US dollar, saying "There is no alternative to the dollar...We're stuck with the dollar, which gives the United States astonishing structural power."

Research by the Costs of War Program is cited on Sputnik International's show The Critical Hour, where program co-director Stephanie Savell joined Dr. Wilmer Leon. "The Costs Of War Project released a report showing that 'the American public has largely ignored the post-9/11 wars and their costs.'"

Stephanie Savell, co-director of the Costs of War Project, in The Nation, "All told, it should be clear that another kind of grand plan is needed to deal with the threat of terrorism both globally and to Americans—one that relies on a far smaller US military footprint and costs far less blood and treasure."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on President Trump's national emergency declaration, saying "He seems to consider it a victory if he continues to convince his base that he is fighting for the wall."

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Daniel Denvir, Taubman Center Fellow, in The New York Times, "The time has come for the Democratic Party to push for concrete policies to make the border more open."

Stephanie Savell, co-director of the Costs of War Project, joined WAMU to discuss the nation's counter-terrorism efforts around the world.

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the government funding bill that President Trump will sign, saying "The appropriators in parties deserve credit for a demonstration of the kind of progress which can be made when both parties on Capitol Hill come to the table."

Fellow Marc Dunkelman in Politico, "...Amazon isn't packing up because of public resistance to too many tax breaks or a helipad. It's leaving because, like in much of the country, the architecture of political power has changed."

In an event titled, "Barriers To Black Progress: Structural, Cultural, or Both?" Professor Glenn Loury discussed the persistence of racial inequality with Jason Riley.

Senior Fellows Chas Freeman and Stephen Kinzer comment on the Committee for the Republic. Kinzer says "I am hoping, that the committee will help force debate over our foreign wars onto the agenda of the 2020 presidential campaign."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Charging in on our own and expecting a good result would tempt history. This is a crisis for Venezuela and Latin America, not the United States."

Recent research from the Costs of War Project that estimates the U.S. has spent nearly $6 trillion in post-9/11 wars, is cited. "A study published in November by Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs found that the U.S. has spent nearly $6 trillion in wars that have directly killed at least 500,000 people since 9/11."

Recent research by the Costs of War Project found that the U.S. combatting terrorism in 80 countries across the globe. Stephanie Savell, co-director of the Project, says "So we cut back a little bit of aid in Cameroon, but it's still happening in other places. And Cameroon is not the only not-so-democratic country that we're working with."

James N. Green, Director of the Brazil Initiative, joined KBIA's Global Journalist to discuss Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro.

During his discussion at the Watson Institute, Senior Fellow Jim Yong Kim '82, former president of the World Bank, emphasized the importance of investment and renewable energy. "Investing in solar and wind [energy] instead of coal has to be such a great business proposition that people are running to do it."

"U.S. Congressman David Cicilline '83, D-R.I., has been named a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and will teach a course for the Masters of Public Affairs program...'Public Policy and Politics in Partisan Times,' will explore the causes and effects of partisan polarization on the creation and implementation of U.S. policy."

Senior Fellow Jim Yong Kim '82 sat down with Director Edward Steinfeld for the inaugural distinguished lecture in Stephen Robert '62 Hall. "We have to find ways of aligning market forces so that, literally out of greed, people are running to make investments that will protect us from the most devastating impacts of climate change."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer is featured in NPR's new show Throughline, which seeks to explain news through history. "According to Stephen Kinzer, author of the book All the Shah's Men, Roosevelt quickly seized control of the Iranian press by buying them off with bribes and circulating anti-Mossadegh propaganda."

Research by the Costs of War Project is cited in an article fact-checking President Trump's State of the Union address. "Trump acts as if the money has been spent, but he is referring to a Brown University study that included estimates of future obligations through 2056 for veterans' care."

Political economist Mark Blyth joined CNBC to discuss President Trump's State of the Union address.

This column spotlights Senior Fellow Chas Freeman's commentary on current U.S.-China relations. "Every governor in the country is trying to go over there and sell things or attract Chinese investment...Washington is trying to stop the Chinese investment."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer joined KPFA to analyze the latest international affairs news.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer joined WNYC's On the Media to discuss "how journalists in [Venezuela] are struggling to cover the standoff between two men who claim to be president."

Research by the Costs of War project is cited in a plea by the New York Times Editorial Board to end the war in Afghanistan. "The price tag, which includes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and increased spending on veterans' care, will reach $5.9 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2019, according to the Costs of War project at Brown University."

Political scientist Ross Cheit offered commentary on President Trump's appointment of Elliot Abrams as envoy to Venezuela, saying "I'd certainly heard reports that he had been nixed for top positions at the State Department, and I would certainly say his Iran-Contra days are infamous."

Research on corporate social responsibility that was co-authored by Provost Richard M. Locke is cited in an article. "Distelhorst and Locke studied one factory that fell out of compliance yet gained no new business afterward, while another won additional contracts when it achieved compliance."

Political scientist Wendy Schiller comments on the "special bipartisan committee of lawmakers from the Senate and the House" that's meeting today to hash out a deal on border security. "...blame for the next shutdown, if there is one, 'will probably be shouldered more equally by Democrats and President Trump.'"

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Tuesday, January 29th's event, Critical Conversations: Experiences of Incarceration in the United States & Syria, hosted by Middle East Studies, was featured in The Providence Journal. "We also wanted to bring into the academic environment the perspective of people who have been imprisoned."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the government shutdown, saying "Government shutdowns for any substantial period are reliably disastrous for the party which the public winds up blaming."

Political economist Mark Blyth discusses the creation of the European Union and the Brexit referendum. "An interesting aspect of the story is how the United States itself was not just present at the beginning, [but] was actually quite generative of the project."

Research by the Costs of War Project is cited in Nation of Change. "...U.S. forces are engaged in an open-ended war on terror in 80 countries, a sprawling commitment that has cost nearly $6 trillion since the 9/11 attacks (as documented by the Costs of War Project at Brown University)."